Follow the author of this article

Follow the topics within this article

Proposals to move a statue of suffragette Emmeline Pankhurst away from Parliament, which had been dubbed an act of ‘vandalism’ of women’s history, have been withdrawn to the delight of campaigners.

The statue in Victoria Tower Gardens was unveiled by Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin in 1930 and was paid for by suffragettes.

Plans to move the figure sparked condemnation from women’s groups and were dubbed “an act of vandalism against women’s history” by Caroline Criado Perez, who led the successful campaign for the statue to Millicent Fawcett which was unveiled in Parliament Square this April.

The application to move the statue drew more than 800 comments on the Westminster council planning website, overwhelmingly objecting to the proposalCredit:
Nick Ansell/PA

Yesterday she said: “I’m delighted. The suffragettes chose this location and they wanted the statue as close to Parliament as possible.

“This is a piece of suffragette history, and the wishes of the suffragettes who put it there should be respected.”

The Pankhurst Trust, headed by former Conservative MP Sir Neil Thorne, had wanted the statue moved to nearby Canning Green, next to a statue of Abraham Lincoln, until Westminster City Council said it was too small to be sympathetic in that location.

Sir Neil said: “We were trying to give her a more prominent position, rather than being stuck in the corner near some bushes by the House of Lords.”

He said he had withdrawn the application because “we realised considerable pressure was being put on Westminster City Council, who’d find it more difficult to approve moving the statue.”

He added that Westminster City Council has now approved a miniature of another, larger statue of Pankhurst, designed by sculptor Angela Conner whose statue of Sir Laurence Olivier stands on the South Bank.

His application to have a twelve foot statue based on Conner’s design erected on the west side of Parliament Square Gardens remains pending.